


That Big Picture Thing

by dizzy



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-19
Updated: 2009-11-19
Packaged: 2017-10-03 10:05:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set early s9. Thanks to <a href="http://lionessfreedom.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://lionessfreedom.livejournal.com/"><b>lionessfreedom</b></a> for the quick read through!</p>
    </blockquote>





	That Big Picture Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Set early s9. Thanks to [](http://lionessfreedom.livejournal.com/profile)[**lionessfreedom**](http://lionessfreedom.livejournal.com/) for the quick read through!

So they broke up.

It wasn't the end of the world.

It wasn't even the worst breakup that Daniel had ever had.

He's not even sure if it really counts as a breakup at all, actually. Four years of kinda-sorta and then Jack got promoted and moved off to Washington and Daniel decided that he wanted to go to Atlantis and that was the end of it.

Right?

Yeah.

Except Jack is standing in the doorway of Daniel's lab now. Just standing there. Staring. Kinda… sorta… like he always did.

Before moving. Before the promotion.

Before they… broke up.

*

"How long you here for?" Daniel says.

They're walking down the halls of the SGC, headed for the briefing room.

How many times, Daniel thinks, have they done this before?

A lot. But never quite like this. Never this… awkward.

Jack shrugs. "Day. Two days. Three?"

"Right..." Daniel gives him a weird look, because that is a weird answer.

Jack sort of looks down, the way he does when he doesn't know what to say.

Which is often.

"I cleared my weekend," he finally says, "but... you never know. Big alien… stuff… going on. Might get called back. Lots of paperwork, did you know? Every time you guys blow something up. Paperwork. For me."

"Okay, sorry about that. We'll try to keep the blowing up to a minimum."

"Good. You. Uh. Do that."

Yeah, Daniel thinks.

Awkward.

*

After the briefing, Jack finds Daniel again. "Dinner?"

"Actually, I've got…" Plans is an exaggeration, but. "Plans."

Jack tilts his head and his eyebrows do that lifting thing.

A memory pops into Daniel's head: watching Jack stand in front of the mirror practicing, trying to get his eyebrows to do that thing that Teal'c does with his.

"Plans?" Jack says.

It's more than an exaggeration. It's a lie. But Daniel meets Jack's gaze head on, giving nothing away. "Yeah. Next time, maybe call ahead."

"Right." Jack's hands slip into his pockets and he turns to walk away. "Next time. Sure thing."

*

Daniel goes home and seriously contemplates getting drunk. Really drunk, like he hasn't done since that one night with Sam just after Jack left for the first time.

He doesn't know what Jack's playing at.

Jack doesn't really play at anything, and that's what's so confusing to Daniel right now. Jack's not dumb, but at the heart of it, he's not that complex, either. Still, there are certain things that Daniel never bothered to ask. Things he didn't even know that he should ask until it was too late and Jack was too far away to really answer.

But now Jack's here, this random surprise visit and Daniel can't really tell if he came for legitimate reasons or if maybe, just maybe, he wanted to see Daniel.

Instead, he calls Jack.

"Chinese?"

"Oh, your… plans… change?"

"Sorta."

"Chinese sounds good. Twenty minutes?"

"See you there."

*

They eat here a lot. Used to, anyway. It's Daniel's favorite place and Jack seems to like it okay, or else he's good at pretending and Daniel knows him well enough to know that the latter probably isn't true.

"So," Jack says, once the drink orders are placed. The menus stay closed in front of them. "Plans, huh?"

Daniel shrugs. "Yeah. Was gonna go out with some friends."

"Friends." Jack smirks a little.

"Yes." Daniel crosses his arms, irritated. "I do have a few."

"Uh huh." The smirk grows.

Daniel starts to wish he hadn't called. "What about you? Why, exactly, did you need to be here?"

"Quarterly check-ins," he says. "I get to pick when. I am, you know-"

"The Man," Daniel says, complete with air quotation marks. "Yeah, I know."

"I'm thinking," Jack starts to say, then pauses. He glances at Daniel and then looks back down at his hands. "I might could make it monthly check-ins."

"Really? You think Landry needs that much supervision?"

"Nope."

"So, monthly check-ins…" Daniel gives him an expectant look.

"Daniel." Jack puts his hands flat on the table.

"Jack."

"_Daniel._"

"What? I don't get you, Jack. Do you just miss Colorado Springs? Is that it?"

"Yes, Daniel. I so desperately miss the climate and geography of this area of the country." Jack says dryly.

"Then what?"

Jack gives him a Very. Pointed. Look.

"Me?" Daniel all but squeaks, wincing at the sound of it. "Jack- you took off three months ago and I haven't heard from you since."

"Goes both ways."

"But you're the one who left."

"You were on your way out the door." Jack says, and he's so quiet and so… so something, something that Jack isn't usually, something almost like intensity or - or deeply felt emotion.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The waitress comes with their drinks. There's a beer for Jack and coffee for Daniel and an extra glass of water for both of them.

Jack downs half of his beer and then wipes his mouth on the back of his hand. "Atlantis."

"What?"

"You were going to Atlantis. You kept… asking."

"You kept saying no."

"You knew I'd say yes."

"No, Jack." Daniel slumps back against the seat. "No, I didn't."

Jack shrugs.

"Are you-" what are you saying here? That you took the promotion because I wanted to go to Atlantis?"

"No," Jack says. "I took the job because I don't trust anyone else to do it. I wouldn't… I couldn't… I had to do it."

Daniel shifts again, full of nervous energy, leaning forward into the table now. "Then what does Atlantis have to do with anything?"

Jack seems to struggle with words this time. "You wanted to go more than… more than you wanted to _stay_."

"Yeah, but-" it's Atlantis, Jack. City of the Ancients. And I'm the foremost expert on the Ancients, right? It made sense for me to be there. What big reason did I have for staying in Colorado Springs?"

Jack looks like someone punched him in the gut. He's already shaking his head, pushing his chair back and standing. "Shouldn't have come here," he mutters, sounding pissed and tired and sick. "Shoulda just left it alone."

*

Clearly Daniel has gotten something wrong. Somewhere along the line there was some miscommunication - and that is really, really not something that Daniel's used to.

That's the problem, he thinks. Jack's big on nonverbal. He conveys more through actions and attitude than he does words. Daniel is the opposite. He likes to talk. Some might even argue that he just likes the sound of his own voice, but it's not that. He enjoys language, discovering new meanings and implications that words can have, piecing them together and letting the big picture sort of dawn on him.

That's kind of what's happening now. The big picture is slipping into place, chunk by chunk.

He doesn't have any clue where Jack is staying at but he's got enough clout on base that it doesn't take long to find out.

Once he does, of course, he feels dumb… because it turns out Jack is staying at Jack's house.

Jack opens the door on the second knock. He has a beer in his hand.

"I thought you'd sold this place," Daniel says, looking around at the familiar walls. There are a few pictures missing but by and large looks the same as it did last time Daniel was in here.

"Why would I do that?"

Daniel shrugs. "I dunno. Moving."

"Never really saw that as being permanent. What are you doing here?"

"I wanna figure this out. You and me," Daniel says. Jack just looks at him. "I didn't want you to go. And wanting to go to Atlantis wasn't a reflection on my personal life, it was just something… I thought I needed to do."

"Don't think so anymore?"

Daniel sits down on Jack's sofa. Jack sits in the chair across the room, making Daniel sigh again. "There's bigger stuff going on here now. The Ori. The Priors. I'm needed here."

"Gotta save the world for the… what is it now, eighth time?"

"Ninth, I think. But that's beside the point. I'm not going anywhere and even when I was, it wasn't because of a lack of emotional attachment to you."

"Emotional attachment?" Jack almost snorts his beer. "Danny, you old romantic, you."

"_Jack._ Do you get what I'm saying here?"

"Yep. Think so." He finishes off his beer. "But you know, I'm not the brightest guy around, you might just want to come out and say what you're… saying."

"I thought you broke up with me." Daniel gestures with his hands. "I thought- you moved to DC and you didn't even call, I thought you were saying we were just sort of… done."

"Nope."

"So you want to keep on with this… even long distance?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Well. Okay." Daniel stands up and walks over to the chair that Jack's sitting on, settling down onto the arm. He looks down at Jack, who is looking back up at him. He offers a smile, sort of hesitant, sort of unsure, but Jack smiles back. "So, you've got the weekend?"

Jack's arm sneaks around Daniel's waist and tugs hard. Daniel falls onto Jack's lap, more or less, with a grunt. Not exactly what Daniel intended, but it works. Especially when Jack's other arm goes around him, too, and he can feel Jack's forehead pressing into his shoulder in a sort of a hug.

When he speaks, Jack's breath warms Daniel's skin through his shirt. "Depends. You think your buddies the Ori can keep their glowy staffs in their robes for a few days?"

Daniel grins - as much a sign of relief as it is actual amusement - and pushes up off of Jack, holding a hand out so Jack can stand too. "Maybe if we keep our fingers crossed."


End file.
